themselves, it is perfectly consistent with their ideas of the average
Englishman that he should bestride a bicycle of solid silver, and if
their vocabulary embraced no word corresponding to our "millionnaire,"
and they desired to use one, they would probably pick upon the word
"Englander" as the most appropriate. While we are making our toilets in
the morning eager faces are peering inquisitively through the bedroom
windows; a murmur of voices, criticizing us and our strange vehicles,
greets our waking moments, and our privacy is often invaded, in spite
of Igali's inconsiderate treatment of them whenever they happen to cross
his path.

Many of the inhabitants of this part of Slavonia are Croatians - people
who are noted for their fondness of finery; and, as on this sunny Sunday
morning we wheel through their villages, the crowds of peasantry who
gather about us in all the bravery of their best clothes present, indeed,
an appearance gay and picturesque beyond anything hitherto encountered.
The garments of the men are covered with braid-work and silk embroidery
wherever such ornamentation is thought to be an embellishment, and, to
the Croatian mind, that means pretty much everywhere; and the girls and
women are arrayed in the gayest of colors; those displaying the brightest
hues and the greatest contrasts seem to go tripping along conscious of
being irresistible. Many of the Croatian peasants are fine, strapping
fellows, and very handsome women are observed in the villages - women with
great, dreamy eyes, and faces with an expression of languor that bespeaks
their owners to be gentleness personified. Igali shows evidence of more
susceptibility to female charms than I should naturally have given him
credit for, and shows a decided inclination to linger in these beauty-blessed
villages longer than is necessary, and as one dark-eyed damsel after
another gathers around us, I usually take the initiative in mounting and
clearing out.